By Victor K
•
July 27, 2024
Inflation is hitting all quarters of the country and in Seattle, it comes down with an additional burden of higher electricity costs soon. The original surplus was predicted to be at 3% but with current operational challenges, the city's public utility provider Seattle City Light anticipates a steeper hike due to various factors including extreme weather, higher demand and fluctuating energy prices. According to Seattle City Light, the hike will be around 5-6% in the coming year alone. This number can increase in the coming years with a sustained 5% annually till 2030. However, this prediction can be like the previous one and the hike can be even more steep. Although City Light customers have experienced shocking electricity bills lately, Dawn Lindell, the firm's CEO and General Manager, accepted the fact that such measures would enable the firm to continue with carbon-neutral electricity generation under uncertain conditions. In this regard, the utility has deployed many dams in Washington for generating hydropower which has helped control the prices for quite some time. However, the last few years have brought unprecedented tasks such as an increase in the population, electrification of buildings and vehicles, and severe variations of climate conditions that affected hydroelectric power-producing stations.